Technology in Pharmacy Business with Scott Carpenter

Today’s Customer has more than one door to your Pharmacy

March 12, 2021

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On this episode of the Pharmacy View podcast, Scott talks with Rob Sztar, Pharmacist and Owner/Partner at Scripts for You pharmacy in Victoria. Rob is also the author of Transpharmation, a book discussing how technology can impact Pharmacy, as well as leading a podcast and digital magazine on the subject as well.

Scott and Rob start off by discussing how some Pharmacists fear using more technology in the workplace. Rob works to explain the many benefits that technology can offer a Pharmacy outside of just the standard e-commerce store, including the ability to do televisits with patients, connecting with shipping agencies who can get prescriptions delivered to patients at home, and scheduling SMS messages to go out to patients for follow-up check-ins. He states that technology can function almost as another team member, being assigned tasks that can expand the Pharmacy’s reach and allow staff to do things they wouldn’t have been capable of before.

Rob talks about some of the particular technology his Pharmacy has implemented that has worked well, including cloud-based monitoring of refrigeration temperatures and an automation robot that has enabled them to spend less time focusing on paperwork and more time interacting directly with clients. He discusses social media as a tool and offers his Pharmacy’s social media strategy, which is to focus on the platforms where their patients have a lot of attention (ie. community Facebook groups).

Scott and Rob also discuss Rob’s podcast and book, Transpharmation, which Rob says shares his vision of the Pharmacy of the future and how technology can contribute to that. He explains how thanks to technology and virtual spaces, there are now more “front doors” to pharmacies than ever. Rob touches on the value of making patient experiences memorable and valuable in order to get patient referrals for new business, then they wrap up by discussing how this view of technology as integral to the Pharmacy affects the recruiting process for hiring new Pharmacy staff (by leading to more hires for talent that can embrace change and challenge, and haven’t had their standard methods hammered into them in an unchangeable way.)

Topics Covered:

Technology as a team member – what kind of tasks technology can do to provide benefit to the staff
How technology can assist Pharmacies in focusing on the person, not the paper
Using social media to connect with the community (Facebook groups)
How technology can contribute to the Pharmacy of the future
Rob’s book/magazine/podcast
How the internet and technology create more “front doors” to the Pharmacy
Recruiting Pharmacy talent that fits this view of the Pharmacy of the future

Key Quotes:

“I think in 2021 we’re in a time where any business has to leverage technology to be front and center for their patients, wherever they choose to interact with them – whether it’s inside or outside the Pharmacy.” (1:27)

“There are Pharmacists that believe that technology is there to take their jobs, and we want to reinforce that Pharmacists really can put on what we call “an Iron Man suit” to make sure that they can achieve better things with the technology than they perhaps would without.” (3:48)

“Look at it as, technology is another team member that you can bring in for a task. It doesn’t have to be a role, but there are always tasks that we can bring it (technology) in to be able to do.” (9:37)

“It (technology) is there to help you, it’s not there to become an extra hat you have to wear.” (11:07)

“We see the role of technology as to make sure that we keep Pharmacist and patient together for as long as possible.” (11:53)

“It’s really just recognizing that there’s a lot that is very good about our profession, but we also need to stay relevant and recognize that there are more front doors to our Pharmacies, there are more platforms that patient care can occur on now….and we just need to know how to help patients in those spaces too.” (22:19)

“We’re always looking to make sure that we’re not just recruiting the same person over and over again, because my belief is that the best teams are going to have a mix of those characters and they’re going to be able to complement themselves.” (28:14)

Social Media Clips:

Using Technology to Create Better Outcomes for Patients (3:37-4:03)
Technology Solutions for Patients – Scheduled SMS’s (5:46-7:00)
Using Technology to Expand Reach (9:13-9:47)
Treating the Patient, Not the Paper (12:28-13:23)
Rob’s Message through his Book/Podcast (20:03-21:10)
More Front Doors to our Pharmacies (22:19-23:05)
Recruiting New Pharmacy Talent in a More Technology-Centered World (27:23-28:39)

Connect with Scott

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottcarpenter-evbc